Review 127. Cynthia Hand – Unearthly.

In the beginning, there's a boy standing in the trees.. Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn't easy. Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place and out of place at the same time. Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side. As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she'd have to make between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?

Rating:

This book was definitely better than expected! It wasn’t filled with clichés and I liked the refreshing take on Angels. The love-triangle did work for me and I’m happy that the romance didn’t play the main role in this book. I will be reading part two, Hallowed, soon and I’m very excited about it.
Clara Gardner has angel-blood and when she is having visions about a boy, she moves with her mother and brother Jeffrey to a little town. That’s where she finally meets him: popular Christian. He is from now on her purpose and slowly, Clara unravels what she needs to do to help Christian. That is not so easy when Tucker comes into the picture. He is distracting her and the two of them are falling in love. But what if faith decides that you are meant to be with someone else?

In the mean time, Clara is learning all these new things about Angels from her new friend. There is a war going on between Good and Bad. The Bad side are the Dark Wings, also the fallen Angels and it seems that her mother is familiar with them when she meets Dark Wing Sam.

Clara’s life is definitely not the life of an average teenager.

The first thing that really surprised me is the fact that the characters are so well-developed. Clara is a good character. Yes, she has some whiny moments, but they felt very realistic. Keep in mind that she is only seventeen years old and her life is turning upside down while she is trying to figure out her purpose. She was capable of making smart decisions, she is stubborn and overall someone I started to appreciate.

“I won’t be that girl who lets the guy treat her like crap and still fawns all over him.” -Go Clara!

Tucker stole my heart. There is something about him that makes me melt and I am leaning towards him. Christian is definitely not a bad character. The only thing that bothers me is that he is one of the same; perfect, gorgeous and popular. He is sweet, but I prefer him as a good friend of Clara. I wasn’t looking forward to the love-triangle, but I found it very acceptable. It worked for me.

That being said, I struggled with the beginning. The story grew slowly on me and when that happened, I couldn’t put it down. The information we get about the Angels, Clara’s search of her purpose accompanied with the visions and the meeting with the Dark Wing, I really liked it. There was enough balance between romance and mystery to make me excited.

Another thing I appreciated was the family aspect. Clary lives together with her mom, part Angel, and her brother Jeffrey. There is a good dynamic between the three of them. They have their struggles like a normal family, but it’s very clear that they love each other. I can’t wait to see more of Jeffrey, because I have the feeling there is more story to him.

“So often we only do what we think is expected of us, when we are capable of so much more.”

I agree - Clara had spunk and the book was very cliche-free. I also loved Tucker <3 Sweet and honest. Basically, I agree on everything (except that I didn't like Christian and Clara's mom), but I especially liked how angels were presented in this book. Definitely the most interesting take on them so far!

I hate it when I have to bear with a whiny character the whole way through and Clara seems like a girl that doesn't but up with anyone's BS. I like the sound of her. Family is always an important subject for me and I adore the fact that you said they have a great dynamics between them. I don't feel like juding the love interest just yet, but I have this book on my shelf and I cannot wait to read it already. Thanks for sharing, Mel! :)

I don't really like angel stories usually but I thought this one was very well done. I liked that we learned a lot in Hallowed (although there wasn't enough Jeffrey) and I really need to pick up Boundless.

Unearthly has such a well developed world building. I really liked Clara, she was so different yet normal, and Tucker was so charming. I loved when he called her Carrots. I wasn't a big fan of Christian, he didn't stood up a lot and whats up with him running after his girlfriend. Not very attractive. Unearthly is one of my favorite books and I'm so glad you liked it. Wonderful review :)

I enjoyed this book, though I think I liked the sequel a little more. I completely agree about Christian though. While I preferred Tucker, I didn't dislike Christian and agree that he makes a good friend. I'm looking forward to seeing what you think of the next one. Great review, Mel!

Hi Mel!! I've been really bad keeping up with blogs lately, so I'm sorry for all the wonderful posts of yours I've missed! I am so glad to hear you enjoyed Unearthly! Tucker stole my heart completely too, although I'll admit Christian was damn good at swaying it toward him in the sequel. Agh, conflicted! I also loved the strong emphasis on family, we rarely see that in YA.

Hi Brodie! I'm happy to hear something from you :D I'm currently reading Hallowed, so I can't wait to see what the Christian/Tucker situation is going to do for me! I hope you get your copy from Boundless soon :D

I was thinking about picking it up but wasn't sure because my last interaction with angel books was not good. Have you read The Hush, Hush series? Is Clara as whiny as Nora, or more whiny, like Bella from Twilight whiny? Because I couldn't stand either.